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Eric Lindros
| birth_place = London, Ontario, Canada | career_start = 1992 | career_end = 2007 | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 1991 | draft_team = Quebec Nordiques | played_for = Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers Toronto Maple Leafs Dallas Stars }} Eric Lindros (born Eric Bryan Lindros on February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals prior to being chosen first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques. He refused to play for the Nordiques and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in June of 1992 in exchange for a package of players and draft picks including Peter Forsberg. During his OHL career, Eric led the Generals to a Memorial Cup victory in 1990. Prior to being drafted in 1991, he captured the Red Tilson Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player in the OHL, and also was named the CHL Player of the Year. Eric began his NHL career with the Flyers during the 1992–93 season. He was an exemplary power forward and averaged more than a point per game. His hard-nosed style caused him to miss significant time with injuries and had many problems with concussions. Eric captured the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award after the 1994-95 NHL lockout. In August of 2001, Eric joined the New York Rangers via trade. He then signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2005–06 season before finishing his career in 2006–07 with the Dallas Stars. Internationally, Eric represented Canada at the World Junior Championships three times (1990, 1991 and 1992), winning gold medals in 1990 and 1991. He is Canada's all-time points leader at the World Junior Championships with 31 points, five points ahead of Jordan Eberle and Brayden Schenn. He has also represented Canada's senior team at the World Hockey Championships, leading the squad in scoring at the 1993 tournament. In Olympic play, Eric represented Canada three times (1992, 1998 and 2002), winning a silver medal in 1992 and gold in 2002. Playing Career Junior Career (1989-1992) As a teenage power forward playing minor hockey, Eric became nationally famous both for his scoring feats and his ability to physically dominate players older than himself. He attended Monarch Park and later St. Michael's College School in Toronto with his brother and fellow hockey player, Brett. Both brothers at one time or another (Eric in 1988–89) played for the school's Metro Junior "B" St. Michael's Buzzers before moving up to the OHL. Eric's play made him the most highly-valued amateur player in North America and he was often nicknamed "The Next One" (which was a reference to Wayne Gretzky's moniker "The Great One"). Throughout his career, Eric has been tagged with various other nicknames, including "The Big E." The hype around him during his early career led to an exclusive deal with sports card manufacturer Score. Attempting to leverage this arrangement as much as possible, Eric was even featured on a baseball card showing him as a third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, although the closest he came to a professional baseball career was taking batting practice one day with the Blue Jays. Eric refused to sign with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after being drafted from St. Michael's. Greyhounds owner Phil Esposito had drafted him anyway, enabling him to sell his share in the team at a higher price. Eric was traded to the Oshawa Generals instead and when they played the Greyhounds, some Greyhound players wore black armbands in protest of Eric's refusal to play for their team. He played parts of three seasons for the Generals from 1990 to 1992. During that time, he scored 180 goals, 200 assists, 380 points and had 437 penalty minutes in 157 games played. Eric helped lead the Generals to the 1990 J. Ross Robertson Cup, and a 1990 Memorial Cup victory. During the 1990–91 season, Eric won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as top scorer, the Red Tilson Trophy as MVP, the CHL Player of the Year award and the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award. The Generals returned to the Robertson Cup finals, facing Sault Ste. Marie. The series was one of the more dramatic in OHL history given Lindros's attitude toward the team, with fans from the Soo loudly jeering him every time he touched the puck. The Greyhounds upset the heavily-favoured defending champions in a six-game series, winning the last game on home ice. On March 6, 2008, the Generals retired Eric's jersey #88 which became the second number to be retired by the franchise, and it was declared "Eric Lindros Day" in Oshawa. 1991 NHL Entry Draft Eric was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He had signaled in advance that he would never play for the Nordiques, citing the city's isolation, lack of marketing potential, and French character; the team selected him anyway. Quebec Nordiques President Marcel Aubut publicly announced that they would make Eric the centrepiece of their franchise turnaround, and refused to trade him, saying that he would not have a career in the NHL as long as he held out. Because of Eric's popularity and hype, it is alleged that NHL President Gil Stein intervened to get the Nordiques to trade him, as it would otherwise damage the image of the League. While he awaited a trade, Eric spent the time playing with the Generals and also participated in the 1992 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal with Canada. At the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, the Nordiques worked out trades involving Eric with both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. The Flyers trade had the Nordiques receiving Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, the rights to Peter Forsberg Flyers' first-round pick in 1992 (seventh overall) and 1993 and $15 million. The trade with the Rangers had the Nordiques receiving Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, John Vanbiesbrouck, Doug Weight, three first-round picks (in 1993, 1994 and 1996) and $12 million. Additionally, if Vanbiesbrouck was declared an unrestricted free agent, James Patrick would have replaced him in the deal. The Flyers (believing they had consummated their deal with the Nordiques first) filed a complaint and the NHL announced an independent arbitrator would be appointed. On June 30, 1992 (eleven days after the draft), arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi ruled in favor of the Flyers. Bertuzzi determined that the Flyers and Nordiques had agreed to a trade 80 minutes before the Rangers and Nordiques had reached their agreement. Since the Flyers used the 1992 pick to select Ryan Sittler and Quebec had no interest in Sittler, the Flyers and Nordiques had to agree on a substitution for the pick. On July 21, Bertuzzi ruled that Chris Simon and the Flyers' 1994 first-round pick would be added to the trade. Philadelphia Flyers With his imposing physical strength and playmaking ability, Eric established himself as the top player on a Flyers team that had perennially been in contention but always fell short. Eric's time in Philadelphia would see him score points (for much of his first 5 seasons in the NHL, he hovered around 4th all-time in points per game) and become one of the most feared and dominating players in the NHL. In September of 1994, Eric succeeded Kevin Dineen as Flyers captain. Along with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg, Eric played on the dreaded "Legion of Doom" line. He scored over 40 goals in each of his first two seasons and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP in the lockout-shortened season of 1995 after scoring 29 goals and 41 assists in 46 games and leading the Flyers to their first playoff appearance in six years. Lindros led the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, handily defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers in five games apiece. In the Finals, however, the Flyers were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings; Eric's only goal came with 14 seconds left in the third period of Game 4. As a franchise player, Eric was expected to carry the team, but he had not lived up to expectations nor had he shown leadership during the Finals series. Detroit Head Coach Scotty Bowman used the fitness-oriented defence pairing of Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy against Eric's Legion of Doom line instead of sending ou as everyone (including the Flyers) expected Vladimir Konstantinov to engage in a physical confrontation. In 1998, Eric (at just 25 years of age) was ranked number 54th on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players of all time. The only player of comparable age was 37th-ranked Jaromir Jagr (who was 26 years old at the time). Eric's relationship with Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke soon deteriorated. He and Clarke feuded in the media with Clarke questioning his toughness; he spent many games on the injured reserve and suffered a series of concussions, the first in 1998 from a hit delivered by Pittsburgh's Darius Kasparaitis that sidelined him for 18 games. Eric would suffer a second concussion in January 1999 that sidelined him for two games. During an April 1, 1999, game against the Nashville Predators, Eric suffered what was diagnosed as a rib injury. Later that night, the teammate he was sharing a hotel room with, Keith Jones, discovered him lying in a tub, pale and cold. In a call to the Flyers, the trainer was told to put Eric on a plane that was returning to Philadelphia with injured teammate Mark Recchi, but Jones insisted that Eric be taken to a nearby hospital and it was discovered that he had a collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding of his chest wall. Eric's father wrote the Flyers a letter in which he stated that if the trainer had followed team orders, Eric would be dead, a statement supported by the doctors who treated him in Nashville. The 1999–2000 season would be Eric's last as a Flyer. Having suffered his second concussion of the season (fourth overall) in March, Eric criticized the team's trainers for failing to diagnose a concussion as he played with symptoms following a hit he suffered in a game against the Boston Bruins two weeks prior. Clarke then stripped him of the captaincy for his actions. Eric sat out the remainder of the regular season and suffered another concussion while rehabilitating for a return to the lineup. He ultimately returned for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils; he scored the lone goal in a 2–1 Flyers loss and in Game 7, he suffered yet another concussion after a hit by Devils defenceman Scott Stevens. The Flyers lost Game 7, 2–1 and the series despite leading three games to one, and Lindros became a restricted free agent during the off-season. He refused to accept a two-way qualifying offer with a minor league provision from the Flyers, who still owned his rights. After Eric was cleared to play in December, the Flyers refused to deal his rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs (as he preferred) and he sat out the entire 2000–01 season. New York Rangers Bobby Clarke eventually traded Eric to the New York Rangers on August 20, 2001, in exchange for Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Brendl and a 2003 third-round draft choice (Stefan Ruzicka). The Rangers would also receive a 2003 first-round draft pick if Eric were to suffer a concussion in the pre-season or the first 50 games of the regular season, and did not return to action for at least 12 months. In 2001–02, Eric averaged a little over a point a game with 37 goals and 36 assists for 73 points in 72 games. His impressive start also led to his seventh and final All-Star selection, but due to an injury, he was unable to participate and was replaced by teammate Mike York. Though 2002–03 was the first injury-free season of his career, Eric struggled to match his previous season, scoring just 53 points in 81 games. In 2003–04, his eighth concussion limited him to just 39 games, though he did collect 32 points. He again became an unrestricted free agent after the season. Toronto Maple Leafs On August 11, 2005 (after the NHL labour dispute had cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season, Eric signed a one-year, $1.55 million contract with the Maple Leafs for the 2005–06 season. After a steady start to his tenure with Toronto in which he recorded 22 points in 32 games, he suffered a tear of a ligament in his left wrist against the Dallas Stars on December 10, 2005. After a 27-game absence, Eric returned to the Toronto lineup on February 28, 2006, his 33rd birthday, against the Washington Capitals. However, his return was brief after re-injured his wrist while taking a slapshot in a game against the Ottawa Senators on March 4, 2006 which effectively ended his season. Two days after the game, Eric had surgery on the wrist at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre in London, Ontario. Dallas Stars & Retirement On July 17, 2006, Eric signed a one-year contract for the 2006–07 season with Dallas and would play in 49 regular season games collecting 26 points & three games in the 2007 playoffs. On November 8, 2007, Eric officially announced his retirement in London at the age of 34. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International All-Star Games International Play Eric played for the Canadian national men's hockey team in the: *1990 World Junior Championships (gold medal) *1991 World Junior Championships (gold medal) *1991 Canada Cup (championship) *1992 World Junior Championships *1992 Winter Olympics (silver medal) *1993 World Championships *1996 World Cup of Hockey *1998 Winter Olympics *2002 Winter Olympics (gold medal) Accolades 'Junior Hockey Awards' 'NHL Awards' 'International Awards' Personal Life Eric is the oldest son of Carl Lindros and Bonnie Roszell-Lindros, Eric has Swedish heritage. The last name "Lindros" means "Rose of the Linden tree." His great-grandfather Axel immigrated to Canada from Bredaryd (a small village in Sweden) and Eric is the third generation of the Lindros family to be born in Canada. His father Carl Lindros received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario (where he played football, well enough to be drafted 30th overall by the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos in the 1970 CFL College Draft) and became a chartered accountant. Lindros' mother Bonnie is a registered nurse. Eric has a brother, Brett and a sister, Robin. Brett played for the New York Islanders and retired early on May 1, 1996, due to post-concussion syndrome. The book "Fire on Ice" (which was co-written by Randy Starkman) was published in October 1991 by HarperCollins and it chronicled the life and early hockey career of Lindros. Since 2012, Eric has been married to Kina Lamarche, a native Quebecer and former president of the North American wing of Travelex. The Lindroses reside in Toronto and are close friends with the Goldie Hawn–Kurt Russell family, passionate hockey fans who are nearby neighbours at the Lindros vacation cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. Category:1973 births Category:Quebec Nordiques draft picks Category:Philadelphia Flyers players Category:New York Rangers players Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players Category:Dallas Stars players